Revolutions!

Slade: Right now in Chicago it’s 77° and the light has entered what photographers call the golden hour. After a springtime where it seemed as though winter just would not loosen it’s grip on the city, the weather has finally (hopefully) taken a permanent turn for the better.

It’s been the custom around the Slade household to cue up XTC’s Skylarking whenever that first day of temperate weather come after winter. It involves throwing open the windows and turning the amp up to 11 and basking in all of this album’s bucolic glory. Andy Partridge joins lyrically in the fun with “Season Cycle”:

Season cycle moving round and round Pushing life up from a cold dead ground It’s growing green

He also hints at his well known atheism in the same song:

I really get confused on who would make all this is there a God in Heaven Everybody says join our religion get to Heaven I say no thanks why bless my soul I’m already there!

Later on the album, more famously, and certainly more explicitly, Partridge asks in “Dear God”, “Did you make mankind after we made you?” Naturally, this caused a minor firestorm in some parts of the good ‘ol U.S. of A. This song wasn’t even included in the original track order, but it’s notoriety gave the public notice of the album, and, some say, saved the band’s career.

A couple of bits of minor Skylarking trivia to enjoy whilst listening:

1.The relationship between the band and producer Todd Rundgren is notorious amongst fans of the band for being strained. Eventually, the band took to playing the Munsters theme some when he would walk into the studio to start the day. Look up a picture of Rundgren to get in on the joke.

2.Following Skylarking, each subsequent album took its title from a lyric on the previous record. XTC’s next record was called Oranges and Lemons.

I can’t begin to express on the page how much I like this record, and this band. I hope you’ll share some of that sentiment once you’ve heard it.

Bee Thousand is a bona fide outsider-pop classic; fragmented and ultra-compact (20 songs in 36 minutes), it nonetheless feels like an epic journey. An “album” in the best sense of the word, it needs to be taken in at a single sitting for maximum impact.

Selecter: krogerfoot Listeners: Glyph, Slade the Leveller

krogerfoot: Kowloon Walled City’s Hobbsean new record is perfect for those of us who like our metal like we like our weight rooms: Sweaty, loud, clanking, male, and shot through with anguished bellowing.

Selecter: Slade the Leveller Listeners: Glyph, krogerfoot

Slade: Nate Ruess before he became famous with the awful fun. The first time I heard it, I immediately thought of Queen. It was a grower for me, but now it’s indispensable.

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WHAT FOLLOWS IS AN EDITED TRANSCRIPT OF SOME OF THE NIGHT’S CHAT.

In case you are wondering, it really didn’t make much more sense at the time.

Reformed Republican 8:15 PM this reminds me a lot of Pet Sounds Slade the Leveller 8:16 PM Hmmm. That’s a comparison I’ve never heard. I will say this is my favorite album of all time. Slade the Leveller 8:17 PM I’ve been waiting a whole month to play this! Krogerfoot 8:20 PM Other Texans here, or people who pronounce the first two words of “Are our comments . . .” identically? Reformed Republican 8:20 PM I am a recent transplant to Texas Krogerfoot 8:21 PM What part, RR? Houston Chris 8:21 PM I’ll be in Houston tomorrow Krogerfoot 8:22 PM I went to high school in Houston. Or “in Houston.” Suburbs, Klein, home of Lyle Lovett Chris 8:24 PM hmm… Police meet Talking Heads? Krogerfoot 8:24 PM I don’t have any fond memories of Klein, but that’s entirely due to me. It’s a good enough place. Slade the Leveller 8:24 PM Toured with both. XTC underwent quite a radical change in sound after a couple of records. Reformed Republican 8:25 PM I also thought of Talking Heads with the first song Slade the Leveller 8:26 PM The sad thing is, they quit touring before I became fully aware of them. Chris 8:27 PM I remember XTC, but like most 80s bands, my memories are somewhat vague Reformed Republican 8:27 PM I am currently drinking a Black IPA, and I am trying to figure out how that makes any sense. My memories of 80s music are limited, but that was before I really discovered music. Glyph 8:28 PM IREMEMBERITALL and it was more awesome than you think Chris 8:28 PM You’re an old fuck, though. Glyph 8:28 PM Yes. Yes, I am. Chris 8:29 PM I have been rediscovering 80s music over the last 3 or 4 years. So this will fit perfectly. Glyph 8:29 PM wouldn’t’a pegged you for a PSB fan. Krogerfoot 8:30 PM How can the 80s be so long ago? They just happened. Glyph 8:30 PM they seemed so modern at the time Chris 8:30 PM I am not, but one of my best friends in high school was a HUGE fan. And he had the best car. Glyph 8:30 PM Rowan’s Creek bourbon is…really good Reformed Republican 8:30 PM The 80s were futuristic, until the 90s happened. Glyph 8:30 PM Have you guys heard about the looming bourbon shortage? Damn trendies Krogerfoot 8:31 PM “Getting Ready for the 80s” is The Village People’s most underrated single, I think Slade the Leveller 8:31 PM ha! Chris 8:31 PM I lived in Kentucky for 5 years. The bourbon shortage is creating a mild panic up there. Glyph 8:31 PM It’s causing a mild panic here in my chair Slade the Leveller 8:31 PM 15 year old Glenlivet just poured. Krogerfoot 8:31 PM I’m drinking coffee, yet I seem to be the most obnoxious participant Glyph 8:32 PM hey, you take that back. I’m easily the League’s most irritating commenter Chris 8:32 PM I have about a dozen bottles of various whiskeys, so I’m already stocking up. Slade the Leveller 8:32 PM Give the booze some time. Reformed Republican 8:32 PM I still need to get acquainted with whiskey. I thought about getting some for tonight, but had no idea what to get. Krogerfoot 8:33 PM Whiskey turns me into Jerry Lewis Chris 8:33 PM I grew up in Tennessee, then went to college in Kentucky, so my entire youth was an education in whiskey Krogerfoot 8:33 PM I say that like it’s a bad thing Chris 8:33 PM I’m trying to imagine what being turned into Jerry Lewis is like Reformed Republican 8:33 PM You balloon up and host telethons? Glyph 8:33 PM HEY LADY Chris 8:33 PM lol Slade the Leveller 8:33 PM beat me to it Krogerfoot 8:34 PM Comedy is not pretty Chris 8:34 PM unless you’re Aisha Tyler. Just sayin’ Slade the Leveller 8:35 PM One of my favorite Jerry Lewis stories has him introducing Lynyrd Skynyrd on the telethon, and pronouncing it with long e’s. i’s Chris 8:35 PM which is how people in the mountains pronounce it anyway Reformed Republican 8:36 PM I thought they just pronounced it Freebird Chris 8:36 PM now that’s some 80s guitar if that even is a guitar. it’s the 80s, so you can’t always tell. Krogerfoot 8:37 PM “Jolly ‘Fats’ Weehawken to London” has been a codeword for a cheap, miserable plane trip in my family for a long time. I recently realized a lot of people used that reference from a Jerry Lewis movie. I looked up a clip and it was incredibly unfunny Slade the Leveller 8:37 PM This one is about Andy Partridge trying to fend off the attentions of the woman who would eventually become his second wife. Glyph 8:38 PM See, negging works! 😉 Chris 8:38 PM Clearly he was a miserable failure. Krogerfoot 8:38 PM Funny women are totally desirable. The meme that says women can’t be funny makes not the slightest sense to me I am now precisely four comments behind everyone else Glyph 8:38 PM One of the funniest people I know is a woman. And a Jerry Lewis fan. Krogerfoot 8:39 PM Please introduce her to me Glyph 8:39 PM She has a boyfriend. He’s AWFUL Krogerfoot 8:39 PM Perfect conditions for me to work my magic Slade the Leveller 8:40 PM Looks like the coffee is beginning to work its magic! Chris 8:40 PM I am enjoying this. lol Krogerfoot 8:40 PM Seriously, I am very very lonely Glyph 8:41 PM Not tonight/thisAM! Chris 8:41 PM You sure there’s no whiskey in your coffee? Krogerfoot 8:41 PM Of course, I say that to a bunch of guys watching YouTube on a Friday night Glyph 8:41 PM This is really nice, Slade Slade the Leveller 8:41 PM The only way to make this better would be to be outdoors, but I can’t get wifi out there. Krogerfoot 8:42 PM I read “wifi” as “wife” Reformed Republican 8:43 PM Just run a LAN cable through a window Chris 8:43 PM you really are lonely! Slade the Leveller 8:43 PM Can’t get her anywhere. Krogerfoot 8:43 PM (Sniff) Glyph 8:43 PM A friend of mine was looking and the local alt-weekly and saw Divine Fits were coming, and got excited Glyph 8:43 PM then he realized it said “Diseased Fetus” Glyph 8:43 PM so, probably not going to that also, getting eyes checked Krogerfoot 8:45 PM I left a not-terribly-admiring comment about XTC in the comments, but I wish to retract it Glyph 8:45 PM no take backsies Krogerfoot 8:45 PM This is better than I remember from dorm rooms in the late 80s Chris 8:46 PM This song has surprised me a bit. Krogerfoot 8:46 PM Although I will never forgive the horrible people who were listening to it back then Slade the Leveller 8:46 PM There’s a cool Prisoner style video for it. Chris 8:47 PM ah, this is the song [“Dear God”] you mentioned in the intro Slade the Leveller 8:47 PM Yep, this one put this record on the map. Glyph 8:47 PM yep, this was the hit Never noticed the Peter Hookish bass in the back before there Slade the Leveller 8:48 PM Another reference I’ve never heard. Moulding is my bass hero. Glyph 8:49 PM WHAT You know Peter Hook Slade the Leveller 8:49 PM Oh yeah. Glyph 8:49 PM Joy Division/New Order Amazing bassist, terrible human being Slade the Leveller 8:49 PM I saw NO on the Low Life tour back in ’85, stoned out of my mind. Worse than Exene seems to have become? Glyph 8:50 PM Live they can be….variable. VERY variable Slade the Leveller 8:50 PM Didn’t really matter in the state I was in. Glyph 8:50 PM Hook has admitted to forging Curtis’ signature on memorabilia and selling it on the net And he’s just generally a dick Slade the Leveller 8:50 PM DAMN, that is low. Krogerfoot 8:51 PM Whoa Chris 8:51 PM yeah Glyph 8:51 PM Still, I think of him as the Roger McGuinn of bass. Invented a new style Slade the Leveller 8:51 PM Yep, probably the first lead bassist. Krogerfoot 8:51 PM It can’t be emphasized enough, you do not need to be a good or nice person to create great art Chris 8:52 PM Definitely, because I’m going to have to have Substance with me when I finally get stranded on that desert island. Krogerfoot 8:52 PM John Entwhistle may want to have a word with you about that However you spell that Glyph 8:52 PM Entwhistle is the better bassist. But Hook is more original. IMO. Krogerfoot 8:53 PM Hmm. That statement is going to be very hard to square with the historical record Slade the Leveller 8:53 PM This record, which I’ve listened to a million times, is sounding very pastoral tonight. Glyph 8:53 PM Or maybe not the first lead bassist. Entwhistle basically played lead too. ALL the Who did. But Hook did that high, melodic thing you never really heard before him (and heard all over the place after) Chris 8:54 PM which is weird, ’cause dude sounds a bit like Daltrey on this Krogerfoot 8:54 PM Not to diminish PH. I think he did something very weird and original with the idea Slade the Leveller 8:55 PM Hope my XTC nerdity didn’t show too much Glyph 8:56 PM no, this was nice Krogerfoot 8:56 PM Yes, nice choice Chris 8:56 PM I enjoyed it. Reformed Republican 8:56 PM I enjoyed it. Something I would not have heard otherwise Slade the Leveller 8:58 PM More Scotch! Chris 8:58 PM Wait, GBV? I totally DID NOT see that coming 😉 Slade the Leveller 9:00 PM BTW, I did not read that comment on the League in a bad way. Slade the Leveller 9:00 PM Power pop! Krogerfoot 9:01 PM OK, I paused it. Of course, I have about 800 GBV albums, so I can play them whenever I want Slade the Leveller 9:03 PM Yeah, Pollard is the Stephen King of rock and roll, so 800 is probably not far off the mark. Krogerfoot 9:03 PM I read a review of Tobin Sprout that referred to him as the George Harrison to Pollard’s Lennon/McCartney Krogerfoot 9:06 PM This was the first GBV record I got, after reading the review in Rolling Stone Glyph 9:07 PM It’s not your connection, Slade 🙂 It’s SUPPOSED to sound this way Chris 9:07 PM hehe Reformed Republican 9:09 PM are the tracks for this album normally seamless? Glyph 9:09 PM yes well, sort of it’s a collage Glyph 9:10 PM it was recorded to consumer-grade 4-track and possibly a boombox Krogerfoot 9:10 PM It was during this song that I realized that I was going to love this band Glyph 9:10 PM a seemingly nonsense lyric, yet it accurately describes a failing relationship -- what is a “Tractor Rape Chain” anyway? Something that drags us down, pulls us apart, takes without giving back, wrecks us? ‘Parallel lines on a slow decline’, indeed. AIR GUITAR Krogerfoot 9:11 PM Lots of evocative lines on this “A necklace of fifty eyes” Reformed Republican 9:13 PM And You Will Know Us By The Trail of the Dead cover this song. Did anyone listen to All Things Considered tonight? Chris 9:14 PM They talked about a book of poetry by Afghan women, and it had the line, “Your eyes aren’t eyes. They’re bees. I can find no cure for their sting. ” it is now in my head forever. Chris 9:16 PM I used to use him saying “Hot Freaks” as a ring tone for text messages it got me weird looks on the bus Glyph 9:17 PM awesome I will be eternally hateful kroger, do you have the B1000 book? They talk about how “Hardcore UFO’s” basically inverts the melody of “Carrie Anne” and now I can’t not hear it Krogerfoot 9:18 PM Chris, I just decided I wasn’t perhaps the world’s biggest fan of GBV after all Glyph, I don’t. Carrie Annie? Glyph 9:19 PM Hollies Chris 9:19 PM I am a GBV fan, but not like Glyph, so probably not like you either. I just like to find moments in songs and turn them into hilarious ring tones. Glyph 9:19 PM Hey Carrie Anne, what’s your game now can anybody play? Krogerfoot 9:19 PM That’s a blind spot for me Chris 9:19 PM Right now, mine is “Whatever!” from “The United States of Whatever” Glyph 9:20 PM OK, so here’s something I’d like to do with GBV fans A costume party where you come as a Pollard character or concept Slade the Leveller 9:20 PM I know of them but I think that’s going to change. This is good stuff. Glyph 9:20 PM We could be “The Textbook Committee” Glyph 9:20 PM Or “The Popular Mechanics” Krogerfoot 9:20 PM Chris, I just imperceptibly nodded and tilted my drink in your direction Glyph 9:22 PM And I love the way “Yours to Keep” normally crashes straight into the stellar harmonies and effortless cool of “Echos Myron” -- ‘Most of us are quite pleased with the same old song’ -- but not GbV -- we’re a very heavy load, but they have come to lift us up with a new song -- ‘If it’s right you can tell’. Krogerfoot 9:22 PM My former girlfriend painted Death Cock and Slade the Leveller 9:23 PM ……. Krogerfoot 9:23 PM Sorry, “Deathtrot and Warlock Riding a Rooster” [a GbV song title] Glyph 9:23 PM See, THERE’S a good costume Chris 9:23 PM damn you autocorrect Slade the Leveller 9:23 PM Thank you, Dr. Freud. Chris 9:23 PM That’s going to look awesome in the post 😉 Krogerfoot 9:23 PM Painted it on a dining room table. She was later a Pulitzer finalist. True story. Correlation Chris 9:23 PM I’m going to bold it Slade the Leveller 9:24 PM Man, I love jangle pop. Glyph 9:24 PM I’ll be Taco, you be Buffalo, he can be Birddog and Jesus will play Himself Chris 9:24 PM It’s definitely great drinking music Glyph 9:24 PM @ Slade -- they are BIG R.E.M. fans Slade the Leveller 9:25 PM Definitely hear some Murmur here. Krogerfoot 9:25 PM I wanna be a Dumbcharger Glyph 9:26 PM A necklace of fifty eyes would get some looks. And possibly the police called. Chris 9:27 PM This album can give you whiplash Reformed Republican 9:27 PM We had a guy that used to work night shift. He had a thing for eyes. He would cut them out of magazine pictures. I do not remember what got him fired, but people were glad that he was gone. Glyph 9:27 PM Wow. That is odd. Krogerfoot 9:27 PM Yikes Slade the Leveller 9:27 PM 3rd shift will do that Glyph 9:27 PM time for refill BRB The Popular Mechanics are at it again The Soft Rock Renegades God is all good, ex post facto Chris 9:34 PM is Pollard a Modern Lovers fan? Glyph 9:34 PM He’s an EVERYTHING fan. He’s like an encyclopedia This sounds like Wire/Devo to me She is having the time of my life Krogerfoot 9:37 PM Coming up on “I Am a Scientist,” arguably GBV’s greatest song. And I am totally willing to argue about it Reformed Republican 9:37 PM This [“Kicker of Elves”] is in the running for favorite song titles Chris 9:37 PM it is definitely my favorite song on this album Glyph 9:38 PM Is this the saddest song ever? Wings of films that never seem to see the screen Chris 9:38 PM the last one is, if you’re an elf Krogerfoot 9:38 PM Shit yeah “Peep Hole” kind of gets me verklempt Glyph 9:38 PM A flying car that seems to whisper in an ear, ‘Let’s just go, get out of here’ Krogerfoot 9:39 PM How does one weigh a ghost? Reformed Republican 9:40 PM Fill a glass with water. Place it on a scale. Get ghost to fly into glass of water. Krogerfoot 9:40 PM I’ll try that Chris 9:40 PM Yeah, this is my favorite on this album Glyph 9:40 PM ‘I am a lost soul, I shoot myself with rock and roll/ The hole I dig is bottomless, but nothing else can set me free’. Krogerfoot 9:40 PM Potions pills and medicines to ease your painful lives Chris 9:41 PM I need to make “I am a scientist” into a ringtone Reformed Republican 9:41 PM am I the only one who has never heard this album before? I feel so unhip. Krogerfoot 9:41 PM (Looks away, embarrassed) Chris 9:41 PM Leave, now. 😉 Glyph 9:41 PM It’s an acquired taste, but if you catch it, you will be addicted Reformed Republican 9:42 PM It seems like it would scratch a similar itch to early Yo La Tengo Glyph 9:42 PM that’s not wrong Chris 9:42 PM “Everywhere with Helicopter” is still my favorite song of theirs, however. Slade the Leveller 9:42 PM Same club, but it’s really good. I think I’m way behind you guys, however. Glyph 9:43 PM Rusty and divided steel, the race is yet to come Reformed Republican 9:43 PM I will definitely have to check this out as a cohesive unit without the breaks Chris 9:43 PM definitely. [After starting, losing, and starting Kowloon Walled City about three times] Glyph 9:49 PM I was DIGGING that, get it back Chris 9:49 PM yeah, it was nice Chris 9:51 PM this is a band i do not know, but I like them already Krogerfoot 9:53 PM If you, like me, are a fan of bands that scream incessantly, Kowloon Walled City is going to really hit the spot Slade the Leveller 9:55 PM That is a great band name, and the cover art is one of the bleakest since Pink Floyd’s Animals. Krogerfoot 9:55 PM I believe, in fact, the vocals were recorded without microphones. The guy just screamed directly into the mixing console Glyph 9:57 PM FUCK YEAH

{transcript ends}

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Glyph is worse than some and better than others. He believes that life is just one damned thing after another, that only pop music can save us now, and that mercy is the mark of a great man (but he's just all right). Nothing he writes here should be taken as an indication that he knows anything about anything.

Slade, check out a Canadian band called Elephant Stone. They have a sitar player (used to be in the High Dials) and they do psych-pop that reminds me at times of Rain Parade, Cornershop, Macha, XTC, and Stone Roses.

With regard to The Format’s Dog Problems, once you’ve heard it, and liked no doubt for its infectious pop sensibility, you’ll be able to boast to your friends that your a big fan of the band Nate Ruess was in before he was in fun. And isn’t that what indie rock is all about? Cf. Zumpano and The New Pornographers.Report

Well, in some ways last night was more technologically challenging that the first round, but we did learn two valuable things:

1. My presence is not required for these parties to go off. So I’ll just set them up as standing/recurring events without worrying about whether I will always be able to attend. Just don’t foment the violent overthrow of the government while I’m not there please, lest I get a visit from the NSA and/or the Google Police.

2. Assembling albums from individual tracks is a bit of a pain. I *think* what was happening was some people were getting ads between each track, and this made playback appear to be “hanging” for those with AdBlockers, causing the people with AdBlockers to mess with the player buttons to “fix” playback (which then affects everyone). So I’d probably stick with people picking/playing one “track” (which of course may be a whole album) at a time in future.Report

Thanks for copying the chat. I just threw up an edited version of it on the OP.

And I think “threw up” is a good way to put it, even with you fixing the names and me trimming out a lot of the “is this thing on?”‘s, it’s sort of hard to follow. Not sure if it’s worth saving for posterity, but it was a blast.

Religious Institutions. Religious institutions may resume services subject to the following conditions, which apply to churches, synagogues, temples, mosques, interfaith centers, and any other space, including rented space, where religious or faith gatherings are held: 1. Indoor religious gatherings are limited to no more than ten people. 2. Outdoor religious gatherings of up to 250 people are allowed. Outdoor services may be held on any outdoor space the religious institution owns, rents, or reserves for use. 3. All attendees at either indoor or outdoor services must maintain appropriate social distancing of six feet and wear face masks or facial coverings at all times. 4. There shall be no consumption of food or beverage of any kind before, during, or after religious services, including food or beverage that would typically be consumed as part of a religious service. 5. Collection plates or receptacles may not be passed to or between attendees. 6. There should be no hand shaking or other physical contact between congregants before, during, or after religious services. Attendees shall not congregate with other attendees on the property where religious services are being held before or after services. Family members or those who live in the same household or who attend a service together in the same vehicle may be closer than six feet apart but shall remain at least six feet apart from any other persons or family groups. 7. Singing is permitted, but not recommended. If singing takes place, only the choir or religious leaders may sing. Any person singing without a mask or facial covering must maintain a 12-foot distance from other persons, including religious leaders, other singers, or the congregation. 8. Outdoor or drive-in services may be conducted with attendees remaining in their vehicles. If utilizing parking lots for either holding for religious services or for parking for services held elsewhere on the premises, religious institutions shall ensure there is adequate parking available. 9. All high touch areas, (including benches, chairs, etc.) must be cleaned and decontaminated after every service. 10. Religious institutions are encouraged to follow the guidelines issued by Governor Hogan.

“There shall be no consumption of food or beverage of any kind before, during, or after religious services, including food or beverage that would typically be consumed as part of a religious service,” the order says in a section delineating norms and restrictions on religious services.

The consumption of the consecrated species at Mass, at least by the celebrant, is an integral part of the Eucharistic rite. Rules prohibiting even the celebrating priest from receiving the Eucharist would ban the licit celebration of Mass by any priest.

CNA asked the Howard County public affairs office to comment on how the rule aligns with First Amendment religious freedom and free exercise rights.

Howard County spokesman Scott Peterson told CNA in a statement that "Howard County has not fully implemented Phase 1 of Reopening. We continue to do an incremental rollout based on health and safety guidelines, analysis of data and metrics specific to Howard County and in consultation with our local Health Department."

"With this said," Peterson added, "we continue to get stakeholder feedback in order to fully reopen to Phase 1."

The executive order also limits attendance at indoor worship spaces to 10 people or fewer, limits outdoor services to 250 socially-distanced people wearing masks, forbids the passing of collection plates, and bans handshakes and physical contact between worshippers.

In contrast to the 10-person limit for churches, establishments listed in the order that do not host religious services are permitted to operate at 50% capacity.

In the early days of the Coronavirus epidemic, there were hopes that the disease could be treated with a compound called hydroxychloroquine (HCQ). HCQ is a long-established inexpensive medicine that is widely used to treat malaria. It also has uses for treating rheumatoid arthritis and lupus. There had been some indications that HCQ could treat SARS virus infections by attacking the spike proteins that coronaviruses use to latch onto cells and inject their genetic material. Initial small-scale studies of the drug on COVID-19 patients indicated some positive effect (in combination with the antibiotic azithromycin). President Trump, in March, promoted HCQ as a game-changer and is apparently taking it as a prophylaxis after potentially being exposed by White House staff.

Initial claims of the efficacy of this therapy were a perfect illustration of why we base decisions on scientific studies and not anecdotes. By late March, Twitter was filled with stories of "my cousin's mother's former roommate was on death's door and took this therapy and miraculously recovered". But such stories, even assuming they are true, mean nothing. With COVID-19, we know that seriously ill people reach an inflection point where they either recover or die. If they died while taking the HCQ regimen, we don't hear from them because...they died. And if they recover without taking it, we don't hear from them because...they didn't take it. Our simian brains have evolved to think that correlation is causation. But it isn't. If I sacrificed a goat in every COVID-19 patient's room, some of them would recover just by chance. That doesn't mean we should start a massive holocaust of caprines.

However, even putting aside anecdotes, there were good reasons to believe the HCQ regimen might work. And given the seriousness of this disease and the desperation of those trying to save lives, it's understandable that doctors began using it for critically ill patients and scientists began researching its efficacy.

Why Trump became fixated on it is equally understandable. Trump has been looking for a quick fix to this crisis since Day One. Denial failed. Closing off (some) travel to China failed. A vaccine is months if not years away. So HCQ offered him what he wanted -- a way to fix this problem without the hard work, tough choices and sacrifice of stay-at-home orders, masks, isolation and quarantine. So eager were they to adopt the quick fix, the Administration made plans to distribute millions of doses of this unproven drug in lieu of taking more concrete steps to address the crisis.[efn_note]Although the claim that Trump stands to profit off HCQ sales does not appear to hold much water.[/efn_note]

This is also why certain fringe corners of the internet became fixated on it. There has arisen a subset of the COVID Truthers that I'm calling HCQ Truthers: people who believe that HCQ isn't just something that may save some lives but is, in fact, a miracle cure that it's only being held back so that...well, take your pick. So that Democrats can wreck the economy. So that Bill Gates can inject us with tracking devices. So that we can clear off the Social Security rolls. And this isn't just a US phenomenon nor is it all about Trump. Overseas friends tell me that COVID trutherism in general and HCQ trutherism in particular have arisen all over the Western World.

It's no accident that the HCQ Truthers seem to share a great deal of headspace with the anti-Vaxxers. It fills the same needs

In both cases, the idea was started by flawed studies. The initial studies out of China and France that indicated HCQ worked were heavily criticized for methodological errors (although note that neither claimed it was a miracle cure). Since then, larger studies have shown no effect.

HCQ trutherism offers an explanation for tragedy beyond the random cruelty of nature. Just as anti-vaxxers don't want to believe that sometimes autism just happens, HCQ Truthers don't want to believe that sometimes nature just releases awful epidemics on us. It's more comforting, in some ways, to think that bad happenings are all part of a plan by shadowy forces.

There is, however, another crazy side that doesn't get as much attention because their crazy is a bit more subtle. These are the people who have decided that, since Trump is touting the HCQ treatment, it must not work. It can not work. It can not be allowed to work. There is an undisguised glee when studies show that HCQ does not work and a willingness to blame HCQ shortages on Trump and only Trump.[efn_note]Not to mention the odd fish tank cleaner poisoning that has nothing to do with him.[/efn_note]

In between the two camps are everyone else: scientists, doctors and ordinary folk who just want to know whether this thing works or not, politics and conspiracy theories be damned. Well, last week, we got a big indication that it does not. A massive study out of the Lancet concluded that the HCQ regimen has no measurable positive effect. In fact, death rates were higher for those who took the regimen, likely due to heart arrhythmias induced by the drug.

So is the debate over? Can we move on from HCQ? Not quite.

First of all, the study is a retrospective study, looking backward at nearly 100,000 cases over the last four months. That's a massive sample that allows one to correct for potential confounding factors. But it's not a double-blind trial, so there may be certain biases that can not be avoided. In response to the publication, a group doing a controlled study unblinded some of their data (that is, they let an independent group look up who was getting the actual HCQ and who was getting a placebo). It did not show enough of a safety concern to warrant ending the study.

It's also worth noting that because this is an unproven therapy, it is usually being used on only the sickest patients (the odd President of the United States aside). It's possible earlier use of the drug, when the body is not already at war with itself, could help.

With those caveats in mind, however, this study at least makes it clear that HCQ is not the miracle cure some fringe corners of the internet are pretending it is. And it should make doctors hesitant in giving to people who already have heart issues.

As you can imagine, this has only fed the twin camps of derangement. The truther arguments tend to fall into the usual holes that truther theories do:

"How can this be a four-month study when we only learned about COVID in January!" The HCQ protocol started being used almost immediately because of previous research on coronaviruses.

"How come all of the sudden this safe medicine that people use all the time is dangerous?!" The side effects of HCQ have been well known for years and have always required consideration and management. They may be showing up more strongly here because it is being given to patients whose bodies are already under extreme stress. Also, azithromycin may amplify some of those side effects.

"They just hate Trump." Not everything is about Donald Trump. If it turned out that kissing Donald Trump's giant orange backside cured COVID, scientists would be the first ones telling people to line up and use chapstick.

The other camp's response has ranged from undisguised glee -- that is, joy at the idea that we won't be saving lives cheaply -- to bizarre claims that Trump should be charged with crimes for touting this unproven therapy.

(A perfect illustration of the dementia: former FDA Head Scott Gottlieb -- who has been a Godsend for objective analysis during the pandemic -- tweeted out the results of the RECOVERY unblinding yesterday morning and noted that it showed no increased safety risk. He was immediately dogpiled by one side insisting he was trying to conceal the miracle cure of HCQ and the other insisting he is a Trumpist doing the Orange Man's dirty work.)

In the end, the lunatics do not matter. Whether HCQ works or not, whether it is used or not, will be mostly determined by doctors and will mostly be based on the evidence we have in front of us. If HCQ fails -- and it's not looking good -- my only response will be massive disappointment. Had HCQ worked, it would have been a gift from the heavens. It is a well-known, well-studied drug that can be manufactured cheaply in bulk. Had it worked, we could have saved thousands of lives, prevented hundreds of thousands of long-term injuries and saved trillions of dollars. That it doesn't appear to work -- certainly not miraculously -- is not entirely unexpected but is also a tragedy.

{C1} The Christian Science Monitor looks at 1918 and how sports handled that pandemic, and the role it played in giving rise to college football.

"That's really what started the big boom of college football in the 1920s," said Jeremy Swick, historian at the College Football Hall of Fame. "People were ready. They were back from war. They wanted to play football again. There weren't as many restrictions about going out. You could enroll back in school pretty easily. You see a great level of talent come back into the atmosphere. There's new money. It started to get to the roar of the Roaring '20s and that's when you see the stadiums arm race. Who can build the biggest and baddest stadium?"

{C2} During times of rapid change, social science is supposed to be able to help lead the way or at least decipher what is going on. Or maybe not...

But while Willer, Van Bavel, and their colleagues were putting together their paper, another team of researchers put together their own, entirely opposite, call to arms: a plea, in the face of an avalanche of behavioral science research on COVID-19, for psychology researchers to have some humility. This paper—currently published online in draft format and seeding avid debates on social media—argues that much of psychological research is nowhere near the point of being ready to help in a crisis. Instead, it sketches out an “evidence readiness” framework to help people determine when the field will be.

{C3} There is a related story about AI - which is predisposed towards tracking slow change over time - is having trouble keeping up.

{C4} The Covid-19 does not bode well for higher education is not news. They may have a lot of difficulty opening up (and maybe shouldn't). An added wrinkle is kids taking a gap year, which is potentially a problem because those most able to pay may be least likely to attend.

{C5} People who can see the faults with abstinence only education fail to see how that logic (We shouldn't give guidance to people doing things we would rather they not do in the first place). Emily Oster argues that the extreme message of public health advocates to Just Stay Home is counterproductive.

When people are advised that one very difficult behavior is safe, and (implicitly or not) that everything else is risky, they may crack under the pressure, or throw up their hands. That is, if people think all activities (other than staying home) are equally risky, they figure they might as well do those that are more fun. If taking a walk at a six-foot distance from a friend puts me at very high risk, why not just have that friend and a bunch of others over for a barbecue? It’s more fun. This is an exaggeration, of course, but different activities carry very different risks, and conscientious civic leaders should actively help people choose among them.

{C6} A look at what canceling the football season will do to the little guys - non-power schools. Ironically, they may sustain less damage due to fewer financial obligations relying on the money that won't be coming in. Be that as it may, Fordham has disestablished its baseball program.

{C7} Bans on evictions and rental spikes could have the main effect of simply pushing out small investors, rather than protecting renters. In a more good-faith economy this would be less of an issue because landlords would work with tenants. Which some are, though I don't have too much faith about it being widespread.

{C8} Three cheers for Nick Saban. Football coaches are cultural leaders of a sort. One is about to become a senator in Alabama, even. What they do matters.

The American college experience for better or for worse revolves around the residency factor. We have turned college into a relatively safe place for young adults to the test the limits of freedom without suffering too many consequences. Better to miss a day of classes because you drank too much than to miss a day of an apprenticeship or job and get fired. College was cut short this semester because of COVID and colleges are freaking out about whether they can open up dorms in the fall. The dorms are big money makers and it is hard to justify huge tuition bucks for zoom lectures even for elite universities. Maybe especially for them. California State University announced that Fall 2020 is going to be largely online. My undergrad alma mater sent out an e-mail blast announcing their plan to reopen in the fall with "mostly" in person classes. The President admitted that the plan was a work in progress but it strikes me as a combination of common sense and extreme wishful thinking. The plan may include:

1. Staggered drop-off days to limit density as we return.

This sounds reasonable but only in a temporary way because eventually everyone will be back on campus, living in dorm rooms together, needing to use communal bathrooms and showers.

2. Students would be tested for COVID-19 on campus at least twice in the first 14 days.

There is nothing wrong with this as long as the testing is available. Our capacity for testing so far in this country has not been great.

3. Anyone experiencing symptoms would be tested immediately. Students who test positive would be cared for in a separate dormitory area where food would be brought to the room and where the student could still access classes remotely.

Nothing wrong here. Outbreaks of certain diseases are not unknown in the college setting. During my senior year, there was an outbreak of a rather nasty strain of gastroenteritis. Other universities have experienced meningitis outbreaks.

4. All students would take their temperature and report symptoms daily.

This one is also reasonable but is going to involve spying on students and coming up with a punishment mechanism. How will they make sure students are not lying?

5. We would also require that socializing be kept to a minimum in the beginning, with proper PPE (masks) and social distancing. As time went on, we would seek to open up more, and students could socialize and eat together in small groups.

I have no idea how they tend for this to happen and it sets of all my lawyer bells for carefully crafted language that attempts to answer a concern or question but also admits "we got nothing." Maybe today's students are more somber and sincere but you are going to have around 500 eighteen year olds who are away from their parents for the first time and another 1500 nineteen to twenty-one year olds who had their semester rudely interrupted and might now be reunited with boyfriends and girlfriends. Are they going to assign eating times for the dining hall and put up solo eating cubicles that get wiped down and disinfected after each use? Assign times to use laundry facilities in each dorm? Cancel the clubs? Cancel performances by the theatre, dance, and music departments?

I am sympathetic to my alma I love it but and realize that a lot of colleges and universities would take a real hit financially without residency. This includes universities with reasonable to very large endowments. Only the ones with hedge fund size endowments would not suffer but the last part of the plain sounds not fully thought out yet even if my college's current President admitted: "Life on campus will not look the same as it did pre-pandemic" The only way i see number 5 working is if requiring is read as "requiring."

Seems that the theory that Covid-19 can be spread by asymptomatic people has very shaky evidence in support of it. Turns out the case this assumption was made from was based on a single woman who infected 4 others. Researchers talked to the 4 patients, and they all said the patient 0 did not appear ill, but they could not speak to patient 0 at the time.

So they finally got to talk to her, and she said she was feeling ill, but powered through with the aid of modern pharmaceuticals.

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Today we couldn’t be happier to announce that Vox Media and New York Media are merging to create the leading independent modern media company. Our combined business will be called Vox Media and will serve hundreds of millions of audience members wherever they prefer to enjoy our work.

In a nation in turmoil, it's nice to have even a small bit of good news:

Representative Steve King of Iowa, the nine-term Republican with a history of racist comments who only recently became a party pariah, lost his bid for renomination early Wednesday, one of the biggest defeats of the 2020 primary season in any state.

In a five-way primary, Mr. King was defeated by Randy Feenstra, a state senator, who had the backing of mainstream state and national Republicans who found Mr. King an embarrassment and, crucially, a threat to a safe Republican seat if he were on the ballot in November.

The defeat was most likely the final political blow to one of the nation’s most divisive elected officials, whose insults of undocumented immigrants foretold the messaging of President Trump, and whose flirtations with extremism led him far from rural Iowa, to meetings with anti-Muslim crusaders in Europe and an endorsement of a Toronto mayoral candidate with neo-Nazi ties.

King, you may remember, was stripped of his committee assignments last year when he defended white supremacism. Two years ago, he almost lost his Congressional seat in the general. That is, a seat that Republicans have held since 1986, usually win by double digits and a district Trump carried by a whopping 27 points almost came within a point or two of voting in a Democrat. That's how repulsive King had gotten.

Good riddance to bad rubbish. Enjoy retirement, Congressman. Oops. Sorry. In January, it will be former Congressman.

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From the Daily Mail: Deadliest city in America plans to disband its entire police force and fire 270 cops to deal with budget crunch

The deadliest city in America is disbanding its entire police force and firing 270 cops in an effort to deal with a massive budget crunch.

...

The police union says the force, which will not be unionized, is simply a union-busting move that is meant to get out of contracts with current employees. Any city officers that are hired to the county force will lose the benefits they had on the unionized force.

Oak Park police say they are investigating “suspicious circumstances” after two attorneys — including one who served as a hearing officer in several high-profile Chicago police misconduct cases — were found dead in their home in the western suburb Monday night.

Officers were called about 7:30 p.m. for a well-being check inside a home in the 500 block of Fair Oaks Avenue, near Chicago Avenue, and found the couple dead inside, Oak Park spokesman David Powers said in an emailed statement. Authorities later identified them as Thomas E. Johnson, 69, and Leslie Ann Jones, 67, husband and wife attorneys who worked in Chicago.

The preliminary report from an independent autopsy ordered by George Floyd's family says the 46 year old man's death was "caused by asphyxia due to neck and back compression that led to a lack of blood flow to the brain".

The independent examiners found that weight on the back, handcuffs and positioning were contributory factors because they impaired the ability of Floyd's diaphragm to function, according to the report.

Dr. Michael Baden and the University of Michigan Medical School's director of autopsy and forensic services, Dr. Allecia Wilson, handled the examination, according to family attorney Ben Crump.

Baden, who was New York's medical examiner in 1978 and 1979, had previously performed independent autopsies on Eric Garner, who was killed by a police officer in Staten Island, New York, in 2014 and Michael Brown, who was shot by officers in Ferguson, Missouri, that same year.

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Oddly, the video was dropped by an attorney friend the men, because he thought it would exonerate them. He assumed when people saw Aubrey turn and try to defend himself, everyone would see what they did: a dangerous animal needing to be put down.